Human Punishment - social deduction 2.0

€36,035

1,167

All information of Human Punishment and following Godot Games 'board games' will be found here!

Help Humanity survive, conquer the world as an evil Machine, or fend for yourself as an anarchic Outlaw.

Hi, my name is Stefan Godot and I am absolutely addicted to social deduction games: One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Good Cop Bad Cop, The Resistance Avalon, Mayday Mayday, Bang the dice game, Secret Hitler, Mafia, Battlestar Galactica. I’ve been playing so many of them! Sometimes, they follow me into my dreams, playing the role of a spy on a mission, or an innocent villager amongst werewolves. But one night, I dreamt up an entirely new setting: a world where steampunk contraptions and futuristic mechs team up, rise up, and take revenge on their human masters. The epic war comes down to one climatic showdown in an abandoned factory, between the remnants of humanity, the machines’ most powerful enforcers, and a few lone wolves looking to carve out a stake in the world for themselves. With the foundations of an awesome setting for a social deduction game, I got to work.

Love social deduction games? You need Human Punishment!

Human Punishment is a social deduction game for 4-16 players, where players belong to one of three teams: the remnants of Humanity, the vengeful Machines, or the selfish Outlaws. Each team has its own special victory condition, as well as unique hidden roles (ID cards) and abilities. We’ll be launching the game with 30 unique roles, giving players tons of replayability, including the chance to introduce a secret fourth team into the game!

Also, there is a small chance for a secret fourth team which infiltrates already existing teams out of nowhere in the middle of a game.

Each player receives 1 ID and 2 loyalty cards. Your ID gives you a special ability and a team assignment, while your loyalty cards each contain one more team assignment. If the majority of your cards are one color, you’re on that team! If you have no majority, you’re automatically an Outlaw, a lawless renegade that simply wants to be the last man standing! Some loyalty cards have a “x2” printed on them, meaning they’re twice as influential when determining the majority.

This means that most roles have the potential to be on any team. What happens when the robotic Assassin starts to empathize with those she’s been programmed to destroy? Or when Lifesaver’s medical prowess is in the hands of a player that wants to be the last man standing?

However, some roles are always loyal to their team. Nothing can persuade characters like the evil Virus or the human Agent to abandon their factions.

Find your team, trust no one.

Starting setup for any player.

At the beginning of the game, everyone’s loyalties and ID cards are unrevealed, secret to all other players. On your turn, you can secretly investigate one loyalty card belonging to another player, taking a peek for yourself. If all loyalty cards from one player are already revealed, you can finally investigate their ID card.

Instead of investigating, you might instead want to draw a Program, powerful cards that can do all sorts of things like attack other players or alter the flow of the game. These cards can be one-time-use, have persistent effects that stay with you in future turns, or even secretly influence your loyalties without even playing it!

Beware of a traitor!

Think you’ve got the other players figured out. Grab a weapon and aim it at someone! Choose your weapon carefully: do you want a rifle, a heavy hitter that can kill in one hit unless your opponent reveals his ID to everyone? Watch out though: the abilities on ID cards activate when revealed, so don’t point a rifle at someone unless you’re prepared for some retaliation!

Later in the game, you might be able to unlock even more powerful weapons, like the Rocket launcher, capable of killing multiple players at once, or the Laser, a long-range rifle that can fire without declaring your target.

Humanity wins if they eliminate all Machines and Outlaws, the Machine team wins if all the Humans are eliminated, but Outlaws are in it for themselves. An Outlaw only wins if they’re the last man standing.

Machines will often ignore Outlaws, opting to target Humans instead, while Humanity will often make a makeshift alliance with Outlaws to ensure the Machines’ downfall. But watch out! The Outlaws know they’re dead next, so they’ll be looking for the perfect opportunity to stab the Humans in the back.

No night time phase at the beginning of the game? Player elimination? WTF? Don't panic!

Have you been eliminated? Death might not be permanent in this game! Some players might be able to bring you back from the dead. In fact, with the right Programs, you might be able to reanimate yourself! To make things even better, your brief time in the realm of the dead has given you otherworldly knowledge of your player’s motives. How is that possible? With the new night-time phase!

Whenever a player is eliminated, that player reveals all their ID and loyalty cards, then instructs everyone else to close their eyes, sticking a thumb up when the player calls out their faction. This is used to check if a team has won the game, but if the game continues and that player is resurrected, they can use that knowledge to their benefit!

You're eliminated? No problem, there are ways for a comeback, even with more knowledge!

Three different teams (sometimes four!) with various win conditions.

Stunning new night-phases, with no moderator or app required.

A creative new traitor mechanic that makes anyone a potential traitor to their team!

A never-before-seen secret role system.

An unbelievable content of different roles (30!) and abilities (30!). Massive replayability!

Pure social deduction, limited RNG!

Gorgeous art design, painting the SciFi world you’ve always wanted!

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RNG can be a deal breaker for some, whether it’s dice, the Who-Am-I factor of ONUW, or the policy deck of Secret Hitler. That’s why in Human Punishment, every piece of information possible to get, though perhaps not in enough time to use that information to your greatest advantage. Use your investigation powers wisely, looking at the loyalties and IDs of only the most important suspects! Even a traitor can be found with clever play and the right cards! This is the pure essence of social deduction.

The loyalty and role cards work as a shield and protect your life. Most of the role abilities are activated if your role is revealed. This can be an advantage for you or for your enemy. You don’t have absolute control over when your ability is revealed, though. Your enemies might point a rifle, forcing you to reveal at an inopportune time. But maybe a teammate can reveal your role in a very important moment. It's even possible to use the rifle on a teammate to get the ability for your team. There are so many ways to play and every combination of roles will completely change the gaming experience.

Human Punishment is a one-man project. I created it on my own (with the exception of the art) and I really need your help. Please pledge Human Punishment and share the campaign with your friends online & offline! Every person, every social media platform, every ’#HumanPunishment on #Kickstarter’ tweet counts! I did everything to advertise the campaign but I am not supported by any big publisher, so without your support this great game will stay on the “what might have been” shelf. Together we can rule the social deduction genre with fresh ideas and awesome style. Gameplay, design and quality will be top-notch. Of course, you’ll get rewards for sharing the campaign and liking the official Facebook page. You are on my team... and since you don’t have program cards yet, there is no traitor option ;) Thanks a lot!

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"Best Almost Plaily ever!" - Michael Krogman (RocketbeansTV)

"If you love social deduction, you will love Human Punishment. The game will remain fresh and exciting: you will never have the same game more than once!" - Lance (UndeadViking)

"I survived as a secret Trojan horse for the Machines and killed my Human teammate in the end. Will never forget his face, maybe he will never trust me again. Very critical in a marriage!!!"

"Holy sh*t, Jenny! What are you doing? Put that gun down, we are in the same.... wait, NO!”

"Sometimes it feels more like a social experiment. The phenomenal traitor system is so intense, you must keep an eye on everyone. Every expression, every eye contact between players can mean nothing or the f***ing whole world!"

"I thought it could be a nice filler game, but it escalated really quickly and we played Human Punishment the whole night. It feels like a perfect combination of classic social deduction elements compared with smart fresh ideas. Feels already like a timeless classic."

"If you like Blade Runner, you will love this game. Turn the "I, Robot" soundtrack on and the table switches through time and space. I love it to play with friends, who imitate cyborg voices just for fun."

"Normally I don’t like social deduction games because I’m bad at lying. Human Punishment is different. You can lie but you can also search your team and play cooperative. It’s nice to support each other. Perfect game for game nights or lunch break.“

"Probably the best nighttime phases you will ever see. Very clever. One of my Top 3 games of this genre (besides Resistance and Battlestar Galactica). I will never forget our epic 8 player round.“

"I love the artwork and style of this game. I would buy it just for that, but the game is brilliant too. Perfect deal for me.“

“I established my own secret Mason team during the game. We fight, we grow, we won. What a ride!”

The pure essence of social deduction

An exciting and serious setting

Hybrid of classic mechanics combined with fresh new ideas

German or English versions available

Stunning artwork from Grandfailure

Reading the mind of other players is fun

Being the traitor and lying to your friends is awesome

Establishing the secret Mason cult in the middle of a game is great

No Randomness, pure strategy

1 minute to set up

5 minutes to learn

Timeless design

No moderator needed

No App needed

Awesome new nighttime phases (not at the start!)

Lots of hidden roles and abilities

Kickstarter has the best price! You will never ever get Human Punishment for a better price than here.

It is the fastest way to receive Human Punishment. You will play it before all others.

The Kickstarter campaign is the chance for awesome upgrades and exclusives. The Deluxe Edition and 3 roles are Kickstarter exclusive (all roles in Standard and Deluxe Edition)!

Thanks to my fulfillment center this campaign is EU and US friendly. There are no customs or extra tax fees to pay when you get your pledge rewards. I am confident your pledge will have top-notch quality and will arrive on-time.

1x copy of Human Punishment (Standard Edition):

Worldwide shipping (USA 6€, Germany 5€, EU 6€, rest of the world 10€) will be added automatically at checkout!

1x copy of Human Punishment (DELUXE Edition):

Worldwide shipping (USA 7€, Germany 7€, EU 12€, rest of the world 12€) will be added automatically at checkout!

It is important that everyone knows that I am not using a pledge manager after the campaign! That means you’ll have to add your add-on copies to your pledge amount, before the project is completed.

Each add-on (Standard or Deluxe Edition) will be 1€ cheaper as the original pledge (exception: early bird pledges!). Have a look on the pledges for more information (shipping etc.).

The Designer: Stefan Godot

I am a father, a husband, a board gamer, a video gamer, a book lover, an author... in short: a full-time Nerd. As I’ve already mentioned before I am addicted to social deduction games. My family taught me board games from the very beginning and at every family celebration we play lots of games. Even my grandparents love to play board games, lucky me! Games have inspired me my whole life and now it is the time to release my first project and share it with you. I am really satisfied and want to thank you for noticing this campaign. Thank you a lot!

The Artist: Grandfailure

The longtime search for the right artist was a challenge. I am so thankful for having finally found the perfect artist: Grandfailure. His character portraits are simply hilarious. He has his own individual style and fits just perfect in the Human Punishment setting.

Risks and challenges

The components of Human Punishment are fairly easy to produce, which means it has a lower level of risk than other games, especially those with a lot of miniatures.

Despite that, outside of making sure the game is properly prepared and choosing my partners wisely (printing, logistics, etc.), it may happen that we face delays from uncontrollable sources. It may result in some delay in the delivery date, but if that were to happen, rest assured that I would keep your informed about the situation, every step of the way.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €300 or more
About $360

Name a Human ID

Name a Human ID. Every copy of Human Punishment will be with your own Human ID card.
Also, you will get 1 copy of Human Punishment (Standard Edition) and 1 copy of Human Punishment (DELUXE EDITION) as English or German version. Includes all stretch goals.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €300 or more
About $360

Name an Outlaw ID

Name an Outlaw ID. Every copy of Human Punishment will be with your own Outlaw ID card.
Also, you will get 1 copy of Human Punishment (Standard Edition) and 1 copy of Human Punishment (DELUXE EDITION) as English or German version. Includes all stretch goals.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge €300 or more
About $360

Name a Machine ID

Name a Machine ID. Every copy of Human Punishment will be with your own Machine ID card.
Also, you will get 1 copy of Human Punishment (Standard Edition) and 1 copy of Human Punishment (DELUXE EDITION) as English or German version. Includes all stretch goals.